


oh, how he fell

by larry_hystereks



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Missions, Semi AU, Ward is not Hydra
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-06
Updated: 2015-06-06
Packaged: 2018-04-03 02:29:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4083223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/larry_hystereks/pseuds/larry_hystereks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>four times skye asks ward how she looks and the one time he shows her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	oh, how he fell

**Author's Note:**

> i've been writing this fic for 10 years i stg

i.

He swears she’s doing it on purpose.

They’re on a routine undercover mission. The third one this week. And this time instead of wearing her normal undercover outfit, some tight dark colored pants and a not as tight black shirt, she’s wearing this dress. 

This teasingly short red dress that ends right below the curve of her ass.

“You can’t wear that.” Grant finds himself saying as she loads her gun in front of the hotel bathroom mirror.

She finishes loading the bullets and points it at the mirror, testing it out.

“And why is that?” She asks.

Grant stares at her. Stares at her long hair piled on her head in a bun. Stares at the low swoop of the neckline, making her breasts sit perfectly at the top. Stares at her short legs looking dangerously long because of shortness of the dress and the height of her black heels.

“First of all, where you concealing your weapon?”

She snorts and reaches for a sequinned clutch on the bathroom counter. She slips her gun in, zips it closed.

"Done. Concealed." She says. “Now why else can’t I wear this dress?”

“You can’t run in heels.”

She laughs. “Yes I can. Next.”

Grant stares at her.

“Is that all you got?” She says. He remains quiet. “That’s what I thought.”

She sprays on a bit of perfume and sticks her com device in her ear. She slips on her watch, something that looks expensive and high end, but Ward knows its real purpose is for sending out a location for their extraction point.

She turns to Ward and smiles.

“How do I look?” She asks.

He looks at her again, looks at the dress, the hair, those legs.

“Impractical.” He answers.

“Dick.” She says, but she’s smiling.

Coulson radios to them that their target has just arrived at the event.

Skye ends up distracting the target all night with conversation, drinks, and flirtatious smiles, giving the team more than enough time to get the intel they need from his office.

 

ii.

They’ve been in Puerto Rico for six days trying to track down a woman who can apparently shapeshift into different types of animals.

According to S.H.I.E.L.D, her boss had tried to kill the woman after she threatened to tell his wife about the affair they were having. He left her out in the middle of Alaska so she’d be eaten by wolves.

Six months later the man was found dead in his home. The official report following his death said he was attacked and killed by an Alaskan tundra wolf.

A man being killed by an Alaskan wolf on the island of Puerto Rico, paired with people claiming to see the “mujer de animales” promoted the team to investigate.

Once they discovered the woman, thanks to some of Skye’s vigilant computer skills, Skye wanted be the one to first make contact with the woman.

Coulson volunteered Ward to go with her. 

So that’s how he found himself lying on a beach chair in a pair of navy board shorts and the sun beating down on his skin.

It would have been relaxing, could have been relaxing if it weren’t for Skye.

Skye in her stupid barely-there bikini.  

“She should be here any minute. Prime time for surfing, if you ask me.”

He hums and keeps his sunglassed covered eyes on the shoreline.

“What if she doesn’t show up?”

“Then we go back to the B.U.S and draw up a new plan.” Ward says. “Either way we got to spend the morning lounging in the sun. It could’ve been worse.”

Skye smiles and laughs at that. “True. Maybe I should start making leads up in warm exotic places.”

“I have never been to Hawaii.”

Grant catches her smile widen out of his peripheral vision.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” She says.

He catches sight of a dark haired woman running towards the ocean with a pale blue surfboard. She’s got three large scars down her back; they look like claw marks.

“Skye, I think I’ve got eyes on her.”

She stands up and grabs the board that was in the sand next to her chair. She holds it at her waist and looks out towards the ocean.

“Do I look the part of a touristy surfer?”

Ward looks at her, runs his eyes over the expanse of her body, only covered by tiny dark purple two-piece bathing suit, leaving little room for imagination.

“Just try not to hurt yourself.”

She rolls her eyes and runs towards the water with her board.

Grant tries not to stare at her ass as it bounces all the way to shore.

 

iii.

Grant gets shot in the thigh during a mission so the team takes two weeks off so he can recover.

While Jemma and Fitz go out visiting the sights of Milan, Ward spends his time cooped up in a cheap hotel room playing board games with Skye for the majority of the day. 

It’s strange to relax like this.

It’s strange to let go and not have to worry about things like dying.

Or getting shot.

Considering that already happened to him this week.

Skye spins the wheel in the middle of the Life game board and moves her blue car to the spot that says a tornado struck her house.

“Mother fucker.” She swears. She takes some of her money and pays the bank. “Should’ve gotten the damn house insurance.”  

Ward rolls his eyes and spins, moving his car to the spot that says he has twins.

“Boys or girls?” Skye asks.

“One of each.”

She grabs a blue peg and a pink peg from the table and hands it to Ward. He slides the little pieces into his nearly full car.

“I couldn’t imagine you with kids, let alone twins.” Skye comments.

Ward shrugs as she spins. “Who knows. Maybe someday.”

“Seriously?”

Skye lands on a pay day and collects her doctor’s salary.

“It’s not like I could have a kid right now,” Ward says. “but I’d like to one day.”

“Hm. Didn’t see you as the ‘I want to grow old and raise kids’ type.” 

Ward shrugs and Skye looks down at her watch.

“Oh crap.” She says, standing up. 

Ward wants to get up, but when he tries to move and a pain shoots through his thigh, he stays in his position on the bed.

Skye walks over to the closet and pulls out a short black dress, hanging it on a hook next to the mirrored door.

“Where are you going?” Ward asks.

She undoes her pants and pulls them down, leaving her standing in front of the closet in just her underwear and her t shirt.

“I kind of have a date.”

She pulls her shirt over her head and tosses it to her bed which is next to Ward’s.

“A date? With who?” He says, trying not to stare at her.

She pulls the dress over her head, shimmying to get the tight material on.

“A guy I met.” She says. She smirks. “He’s cute.”

She grabs a pair of red stilettos from the closet and slips those on too.

Ward sighs. “So what you’re just going to leave me here to play Life by myself?”

She pouts her lips and smiles. “Awe, Ward.”

She fluffs her hair and walks over to him where he sits, unable to move on the edge of his bed.

She ruffles his hair slightly and kisses the top of his head.

“We’ll finish the game tonight, okay?”

“It’s already eight Skye.” He tries to convince himself that he isn’t whining.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back before you know it.” She promises. “And I’ll tell Fitzsimmons to stop by so you won’t be lonely.”

He sighs.

She grabs her cell phone and her hotel card and heads to the door.

She opens the door and turns to Ward.

“You think this is too much for a first date?” Skye asks.

“I think it’s rude to walk out without finishing the game of Life first.”

She snorts and rolls her eyes. “See you later Ward.”

He doesn’t say anything when she comes back to their hotel during the AM’s smelling like alcohol and sex.

 

iv.

“Are you sure I have to do this?”

May nods.

“You could do it for me, if you wanted to.”

May just stares at her.

Ward grabs her arm. “Stop being a chicken.”

“Excuse me for not jumping at the opportunity to literally jump out of a moving plane.” Skye huffs. “I’m sorry I seem to be the only one with rational thought left on this team.”

“Are you done complaining.” May says flatly.

Skye glares at her.

“It’s just a practice run, Skye.” Ward assures her. “It’s meant to help you so that when you actually need to jump out of a plane for real, you can. Without hesitation.”    

Skye looks between Ward and May, arms crossed against her chest.

“Fine.” Skye says. “But I’m not going alone. One of you sorry suckers is coming with me.”

May looks at Ward. “Have fun.” She says. She turns and walks away before Ward has a chance to argue with her. As if that would change anything.

Ward just sighs and grabs one of the parachute packs.

“Turn around.” He tells Skye. She does so and he slips it on her. “And back.” She turns to face him and he tightens it on her.

“Now you’re going to pull this,” he says, tugging on the red circle to show her. “but only when I tell you, alright?”

“And if that doesn’t work?”

“Then pull this one.” He shows her the emergency chute pulley.

“And if that one doesn’t work either?”

“Then we better hope mine works.”

She grimaces. “I hate this.”

“I know. But you still need to do it. Coulson’s orders.”

He slips on his chute, adjusting it.

“You ready?” 

She groans and stomps her foot a little bit, making her look utterly ridiculous and adorable.

“I mean I guess.” She says. “Do I really have another option?”

“No, not really.”

“Then I’m ready when you are agent Ward.”

Ward presses his finger to the com in his ear. “Alright May, open her up.”

The door starts beeping and it lowers, the wind rushing in, wiping Skye’s hair all around her face. She squints her eyes and then they widen at the sight of the vast open sky in front of her.

She looks at Ward nervously.

“I’ll be here the whole time, alright?” He says. His hand touches her arm lightly. “You can do this.”

Her jaw clenches and she nods her head, a sudden determination flashing in her eyes.

“Alright, let’s do this.”

He smiles a bit, extending his arm out. “Ladies first.”

She nods her head again as if it’s somehow pumping herself up.

“Okay, I got this. I got this? Hell yeah I got this.” She says to herself. She bounces up and down a bit before she takes off running and dives out of the plane.

Ward smirks and runs out of the plane as well, following close behind her.

The wind pushes against his body as he starts his descent to the ground, his blood flying inside him.

He can see her a few hundred feet below him. She looks like she’s laughing.

“Skye, can you hear me?” He shouts to the com in his ear.  

“Yeah!” He can hear her laughter. “This is amazing!”

He rolls his eyes, angling his body so that his head directly points to the ground and he can get closer to where Skye is.

He’s pretty close to her now. Probably about twenty feet away. He doesn’t want to get too close though, for when she needs to open her parachute.

They’re approaching the ground quickly.

“You almost ready to open the chute?” He yells.

“Hell yeah I am, just tell me when.”

A quick thought of Skye’s chute not opening crosses his mind.

“Now!” He shouts.

He pulls his and she must do so as well because the chute opens up from her back, pulling them both upwards with the force of the wind.

Ward can hear her laughing in the com in his ear, so pure, so happy. He can’t help the grin that forms over his own face.

“You see the field over there?”

“Yeah?”

“Aim for that.”

They float down the rest of the way until they make it to the field and Skye stumbles over her feet a little when she lands but she regains her footing quickly.

Ward lands not too far from her and makes his way over to where she stands.

Her hair is a wild mess around her, her eyes shining with pure adrenaline. Her smile takes over her entire face as she looks over at Ward approaching her.

“How did I do?”

“Pretty good for your first time.”

“My first time?” She repeats. “You mean I get to do that again?”

If her grin could’ve gotten wider it would have.

He smiles slightly, shaking his head. “You’re insane.”

She shrugs. “Never said I wasn’t.”

She tries to run her fingers through her hair but they get caught in the tangled wind-blown mess.

“Ow, ow, ow!” She says. She shakes her hand but it doesn’t move.

Ward walks up to her and untangles the knots from around her fingers, freeing her hand, and then combing down the rest of her hair with his own fingers.

The feel of her hair coming unknotted is oddly comforting to him.

He looks down and sees her staring up at him with a small smile, her eyes soft.

“Thanks,” she says softly. “does it look any better?”

He runs his fingers through her hair one last time, his hand resting on her neck, thumb on her pulse point so he can feel her heart start to race.

“Not really.” He says. It’s a lie. She looks perfect.

“Oh well.” Her voice sounds lower than it normally is. Maybe it’s just Ward’s mind playing tricks on him.

“We should get back to the plane.” He takes his hand away from her neck and presses it to his ear. He ignores the look of confusion on her face.

“Yeah, sounds good.” Skye says. She slides off her chute and turns to face the open field, instead of towards Ward.

He tells himself it doesn’t mean anything.

 

+1

“Oooooooh a ball?” Skye says. “Like in Cinderella?”

Coulson smiles slightly. “More modern than that unfortunately.” He says. “You are going to need to go undercover though. We’ve already had headquarters send us clothes for you and agent Ward.”

“Me and Ward?” Skye asks.

“Yes, it looks like this auction is specifically targeted to the young elites of today. Agent May and myself would draw too much attention, however you and Ward would blend in just fine.”

“What are we retrieving?” Ward asks.

“The host of the party, Katherine Watergate, has recently purchased some Chitauri weaponry.”

Skye frowns. “For what?”

Coulson shakes his head. “As of right now, the reason is unknown. Regardless, S.H.I.E.L.D still wants us to get it before she decides to use it, sell it, or before someone decides to kill her for it.”

“So me and Ward get to play undercover rich kids at a modern age ball to steal some alien weapons?”

“Pretty much.” Coulson says.

“Sounds like a blast to me. What’re the details?” Skye asks.

“We’ve already gotten you an invite, the clothes, and May has us on scheduled to be there in about an hour. We’ve arranged for a car to pick the two of you up, and you have about 30 minutes to retrieve the weapons once inside.”

“Extraction point?” Ward asks.

“Depends on where the weapons are located. Once you make contact, press the face on this,” Coulson says, handing Ward a very expensive looking watch. It looks like the one Skye has been using for missions. “it’ll send us your location so we know where to pick you up.”

Ward takes the watch. “Alright, where are the clothes?”

“Your bunk. I'll have May radio you once we've arrived." 

Ward nods his head and exits the room. Skye smiles at Coulson and follows behind Ward towards their neighboring bunks.

There’s a long black dress laid out on her bed, a pair of gold strappy heels on the floor.

Ward thinks Coulson and the team are trying to kill him. He looks at the suit in his own bunk and closes the door to change.

He puts on his button down shirt and hears the sound of Skye zipping her dress through the thin wall of their bunks.

He puts his pants on and they’re tight, but there’s enough room to hide his gun on his ankle holster.

He opens the door of his bunk as he’s finishing the buttons on his shirt. His hands stop when he sees Skye.

The black dress fits her like a glove, a long slit up the garment showing her right thigh. The heels make her taller than the mirror she set up on the door of her bunk, making her have to bend down slightly as pulls some of her hair back from her face, clipping it with a sparkly gold pin. The rest falls down in her natural waves.

She turns to Ward, running her eyes over him before landing on his face.

“Don’t you look handsome.” She says with a smirk. He rolls his eyes, grabbing the watch Coulson gave him and slides it on his wrist, tightening it.

“Try not to be too distracted during the mission.” He says.

“Oh hardy har har.” She snorts. She puts her earrings in, these long gold diamond encrusted things. Ward wonders if they’re real.

“The car should be here for us soon, you ready?”

Skye nods. "Ready as I'll ever be." 

He extends his arm with a smirk for her to grab. She rolls her eyes and takes it, letting him lead her away.

\-------

They hand their invitations to the guard at the door who scans the cards on his phone. A green light appears from them.

“Go ahead.” He says.

Skye smiles brightly, her arm wound tightly around Ward’s. Ward walks them through the tall doors and into a large room filled with beautiful people in expensive clothes holding various glasses of wine or champagne.

“Boy do I feel underdressed.” Skye says to him.

“You fit in fine.” Ward says. There’s people dancing in the neighboring room to a man playing on a grand piano.

“Let’s dance.” He says, leading her there.

“Oh no, I don’t dance.” Skye says.

He leads her into the other room anyway, allowing the music to surround them. He takes her hand in his and places the other one on his shoulder. He rests his on her hip.

“Just follow my lead,” he starts moving with the music. “and look for potential guards or guarded rooms. Anything suspicious.”

“Roger that.”

He pulls her closer towards him as they move gently throughout the room. Skye picks up the moves he’s throwing out there quickly. He spins her, and brings her back.

“I thought you couldn’t dance?”

“I guess I’m a quick learner.” She smirks. “There’s two guards blocking the third door to your right; behind me.”

She doesn’t break eye contact with him as she said this, and he finds what she was referring to.

“Only two of them. One for each of us it looks like.” He says.

“What if it isn’t in there?”

“Then we come up with a plan B.”

She sighs, and he rubs his thumb absently on her hip.

“Try not to worry too much. You’re ready for this.” He promises.

She stares at him as if she’s trying to figure something out, but the look in her eyes passes too quickly before Ward can ask her what it was about.

“I’ll take the one on the right?” She suggests.

He nods at her. “Sure,” he says with a small smirk. “just follow my lead.”

He walks over there and starts laughing, his head bending down towards Skye’s and she giggles, the sound is so unlike her, but fitting for the situation.

They walk right up to the two guards and she sways slightly, giving the illusion of being slightly intoxicated.

“Is there a bathroom in there?” She says, pointing to the door the guards are blocking, while giggling.

“Bathroom’s over there.” One of them says, pointing.

She laughs and leans closer, Grant steps near the other guard.

“Over where?” She says again.

The guard sighs and steps forwards, pointing. “Over-”

She presses the ICER to the guards belly and pulls the trigger, the man immediately slumping. She catches him and looks at Ward, who has already done the same.

Ward opens the door, thankfully unlocked, and brings the guard inside with him. Skye follows suit, closing the door behind her and laying the guard on the ground.

“Follow my lead?” Skye echos with a scoff. “I did all the work!”

Ward snorts. “I know, I wanted to see how you’d do.”

“So I passed?”

He rolls his eyes at her stupidly bright smile. “You passed, now let’s find this thing and get out of here.”

“What are we even looking for?” Skye says, walking further into the room, Ward at her side. Her heels click against the floor, echoing loudly in the quiet of the room.

“It could be anything, big or small, just keep your eyes open.”

She nods, scanning the room. The walls are lined with shelves with various items. Some watches, some look like sparkling figurines. It’s very musuem-like.

There’s a long sword looking thing in a glass case, the end glowing a dim blue.

“Here.” Skye says. She walks over to it and Ward follows. “This has to be it. Should we radio Coulson to confirm?”

“No, we should get out of here before someone notices the missing guards. I already pinged our location,” he says. He walks towards the glass case. “We should just grab it and go.”

“What if it releases an alarm?”

Ward shrugs. “Then we run.”

Skye sighs and Ward reaches for the glass, hesitating, until just lifting it off. Almost as soon as he touches it, an alarm blares out.

“Shit.” He says. He tosses the glass to the side, it cracking against the floor, and he grabs the weapon. “Let’s go!”

He starts running towards the back of the room, eyes on his watch that’s mapping his location and telling him where they need to leave from.

“This way!” Ward says. He moves towards the left, hand finding a door knob and opening it. The door at the other end of the room opens, guards shouting and firing shots at them.

They run down a hallway together and out another door. Ward’s watch is telling him to go left, so he grabs Skye’s arm and pulls her that way with him.

“It’s just through this door.” He says.

He opens the next door and they’re outside. There’s alarms blaring and lights flashing, people are shouting and exiting the house from all directions. Skye and Ward’s eyes land on a chopper, the S.H.I.E.L.D insignia printed on the side.

“There!” Skye says.

They both take off sprinting towards the helicopter, the blades already spinning and ready for take off as soon as they get there. There’s bullets being fired at them from the guards; Skye feels one whiz past her neck.

She feels one hit her shoulder, just a scratch really, but she cringes as she runs.

They get to the chopper and Ward hops inside first, turning and grabbing Skye’s outstretched arm to pull her in too.

“Go!” He shouts at May, who’s piloting the craft.

She takes off, lifting the bird off the ground and flying away from the house.

Skye sits back in her seat, her hand on her shoulder from where a bullet nicked her skin. She rests her head against the seat and laughs.

Ward looks at her, the wild hair and pure adrenaline across her face, and swears he falls in love.

\------

He walks to the lab where Skye sits on a high chair, a medkit on the table and needle in her skin, trying to stitch up her small wound.

“You’re going to hurt yourself.” He says.

She turns to him and glares slightly. “Then you do it.”

He sighs, standing over her, taking the needle already in her skin from her grip, and pushing it through himself. Her jaw clenches, but she doesn’t say anything.

It’s silent as Ward stitches her up, the only sound filling the room being their even breathing.

He finishes the sutures and cuts off the end of the thread.

“All done.” He says.

She turns her head to try and look at it, her fingers ghosting over the stitches lightly.

“Where would I be without my S.O.?” She jokes.

Ward smiles and shakes his head. He leans against the metal table, facing Skye in her chair.

She smiles back, it softening. “In all seriousness though, thank you.”

“Skye-”

“No, let me finish.” She interrupts. He shuts his mouth, waiting. “I mean it, just, thank you. I don’t know where I’d be without you. I sure as hell wouldn’t be the agent I am today.”

“Yes you would. You’re a fast learner and you’re good at what you do. Anyone could’ve turned you into the S.H.I.E.L.D agent you turned out to be.”

She shakes her head. “Ward,” she sighs. “just take the damn compliment, alright? I’m trying to tell you I’m happy I have you in my life.” She presses her lips together. “And I’m trying to tell you that I wouldn’t have wanted another S.O and I’m really glad I got stuck with you.”

He can feel his heart hammering in his chest. He’s never felt this, never felt needed like this, appreciated in a way that he knows is heartfelt and true. He doesn’t know what to say back to her; anything wouldn’t begin to cover what he wants to say.

“I’m really glad I got stuck with you too.” His voice is soft, so low it’s barely audible but Skye hears it. She must hear it because Ward watches her cheeks flush with red, and watches her try and hide her smile.

She’s perfect. She’s beautiful sitting there in her tank top, freshly stitched up wound, and hair pulled back into a ponytail. She’s beautiful with her soft smile and the red flushness of her chest rising up to her cheeks. She’s beautiful with her bright eyes dancing across his, searching for something, something more.

“Are you just going to stare at me all day or are you going to say something?” She jokes.

He tries to think of the right words to say, tries to think of way to tell her that she’s the most perfect woman, person, he’s ever laid eyes on. He tries to think of the words to say “I love you” without saying those exact words just yet. He tries to think of the words to tell her he’s crazy about her, that everything she does makes him crazy, and that he thinks he’s crazy for how hard he’s falling.

“What? Is there something on my face?”

He can’t think of the words, but he thinks he knows how he can show her, show her exactly how he’s feeling.

He steps away from the metal table and towards her, leaning his head down slightly. He raises his hand and slides it gently along her cheek, caressing it.

He feels her pulse quicken as he leans in, their lips centimeters apart, their noses just brushing.

“Is this okay?” He asks.

She nods her head quickly, and closes the distance between them, his lips sliding against hers. His other hand comes up to hold the other side of her face and she sighs into his mouth as he kisses her again.

He thinks of all the trainings, all the missions. He thinks of playing board games with her and lying on the beach next to her. He thinks of their future, where they’ll go after this, how they’ll get there.

He thinks of her.

She pulls away, resting her forehead against his.

“That was-” She starts.

“Yeah.” He finishes in agreement.

She laughs slightly and Ward feels the vibration.

“We should do that again sometime.” She says. He can’t see her smirk due to the close distance between them, but he can still bet it’s there.

He kisses her again, gently once more, before standing up tall.

“Ward-”

“I think I’m gonna turn in for the night.”

Her face falls. “Oh. Oh, okay.”

“You should turn in too, I mean, with your shoulder and all.” He says. “You should rest.”

She catches the tone in his voice and her eyes shine. “Oh.” She says again. She stands up. “If I turn in the last thing I want to be getting is rest.”

She walks towards their bunks and Ward stands there with an open smile on his face.

She turns and raises a mischievous eyebrow. “You coming?”

She bites her bottom lip through a smirk and he huffs a laugh, walking towards her.

“You’re going to be the death of me.” He says.

His hand finds her waist as they walk the rest of the way to his bunk.

“Let’s hope not,” she says. “I have big plans for us. Huge.”

He stares at her smirking face and shakes his head.

“The death of me.” He says again.

Her smirk turns to a smile, and he thinks that if she killed him like this, he wouldn’t really mind.


End file.
